December 3, 2007
Dear Editor:
Re: “The ‘New Vince’ tastes suspiciously refreshing”, Daily News 10/3
John Baer is right to point out the sudden 180-degree turn that Vince Fumo has done on casinos, but is the ‘New Vince’ ready to really step and do something to sway the skeptical voters who know and are warming up to Anne Dicker?
To my untrained eye it looks like Fumo is nervous. The neighborhoods are still vocally against casinos, Fumo is facing what appears to be a strong indictment and Dicker, a strong advocate with a record of standing up for neighborhoods and opposing casinos, is on the hunt.
The fact is Fumo is the self identified author of the law that brought gambling to Pennsylvania. Fumo did nothing when this law was used to to strip Philadelphians of their right to vote on whether to keep casinos away from neighborhoods. Fumo did nothing when Fourteen of us traveled to Harrisburg and got arrested asking the Gaming Control board to open up their records last winter. Fumo was not there to support the Philly Ballot Box initiative this spring. When casino opponents held their own “citizen’s referendum” on a buffer zone between casinos and homes, Michael Nutter, Tom Knox, Chaka Fattah, Bob Brady, Mike O’Brien and most of our city’s political leaders supported the effort and voted in the referendum, but Fumo did nothing.
Many of us have given up more than a year of our lives to fight casino development in our neighborhoods. We want to believe Fumo is really in this to the end but he’s going to have to actually move these casinos before election day if he wants my vote and my neighbors’ votes. I want to trust and support him but the old Vince is too fresh on my mind to allow anything short of action to sway me.
We will fight casino development in our neighborhoods until they are moved. If they are built we will shut them down. Period. If Vince Fumo wants our support he is going to have to move the casinos before the election, it’s just too easy for him to be our ally until the election is over.
Morgan Jones
Fishtown Resident
FAST (Fishtown Against Sugarhouse Takeover)
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